MANAGEMENT of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) has confirmed to Cabinet that virtually all of the 15 million outstanding contribution records have been updated and uploaded electronically on the NIS Database System.

Cabinet had issued a December 31, 2014 deadline to NIS to have this project completed, and according to Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon, by the end of June; all of the contributions/records would be electronically entered on the NIS database.

Speaking at his usual post-Cabinet press conference at the Office of the President in Georgetown, Dr. Luncheon said this leaves the period July to December for NIS to concentrate on the verification of the data.

“This is endlessly more challenging, and it extends to inputs, wide-ranging, not only staff, not only individual contributors, employers, all of them would have to play an incisive role were the December 31 deadline to be met for one hundred percent verification,” Dr. Luncheon said.

He said Cabinet was advised of timely resourcing of this effort, the dedication of the workforce not being distracted, and a good plan to get the work done. For Cabinet’s purposes, he said, information was also provided on the steering committee that has been established and meets weekly to monitor the implementation of that plan.

“It is with some optimism that Cabinet, and particularly the sector, is looking forward to the completion of this important task.”

Luncheon said electronic storage provides for processing of benefits. “It is extremely difficult to process benefits on the basis of paper. The manual search for paper records to process benefits unquestionably has denied contributors, whether short-term or long-term; definitely has frustrated and contributed to the wealth of appeals, thousands of them, in the system, incubating, germinating.”

Luncheon said this project should have been done a long time ago, and that this time around, it will be ensured that the project is completed in its entirety.